Improvement in revolving fire-arms



UNrrEn STATES PA'IENIV OFFICE.

DANIEL B. WESSON, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN REVOLVING FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 163,036, dated May11,1875; application filed January 26,1875.

To alt whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL B. WEssoN, of Springfield, in the State ofMassachusetts, have made a new and useful invention ot' an Improvementin Revolving Fire-Arms; and that the following is a full, clear, andexact description and specification of t-he saine.

The object of my invention is to extract all the shells at once from thechambers of the cylinder ot' a revolving tire-arm; and to this end itconsists of an extractorplate provided at the rear side with aprojection extending to, and having its bearing in which it revolveswhollyin, the rear of the front face of the recoil-shield, Saidprojection being provided with ratchet-teeth to rotate it, and with anannular groove, bymeans of which, in connection with a pin or catch, theextractor is held while the shells are being extracted from the cylinderas the recoil-shield and cylinder are being moved apart. The front ofthe extractor-plate is provided with a prismatic stem, which, when thecylinder and recoil-shield are moved together again, enters acorresponding prismatic hole in the cylinder, by which the rotarymovement of the extractor is communicated to the cylinder.

In order that the invention may be fully understood, I will describe it,having reference to the figures in the accompanying drawing, and to theletters of reference marked thereon.

Figure lis a central vertical longitudinal section of a revolvingre-arin having my invention applied thereto, and Fig. 2 is a rearendview ot' the cylinder.

A represents the cylinder, having any desirable number of chambers, andis secured to and rotates upon the center-pin O, made upon the rear endof the barrel B, and the rear end of the cylinder is provided with acentral hole, having any desirable number of sides, but preferably thesame number as there are chambers in the cylinder. b is the-extractor-p1ate, provided on its rear side with the stem il, whichextends back into the central hole in the recoil-shield D, which stemhas its bearing, upon which the extractor revolves, wholly in the rearof the front face of the recoil-shield D. This stem is provided with anannular groove, h, through which extends a pin, Z, inserted into therecoil-shield,

or through a projection in its rear, and said groove is somewhatelongated to allow a little longitudinal play of the stem. The rear sideof the extractorplate b is also provided with a ratchet, j', with whichthe dog upon the hammer enga-ges to rotate the extractor-plate as thehammer is pulled back. Upon the front ot' the extractor-plate is made aprismatic projection, having the same number otl sides as the hole e inthe rear end of the cylinder A, so that when the cylinder is forced backagainst the extractor-plate the projection c will enter the hole e, andtit it sufficiently well to cause the cylinder to rotate Whenever theextractor is rotated. The lower forward part of the frame D is providedwith a sleeve, F, in which slides, in a longitudinal direction, the armE, made upon the lower rear part ot' the barrel, and the sleeve may beprovided inside with a shoulder, 0, and the arm may be provided with astop, both arranged to limit the longitudinal movement of the barrel andcylinder; or this movement may be limited by any other desirable andconvenient means.

The operation ot' my invention is as follows: When the cylinder is inits position against the recoil-plate the cartridges may be insertedinto the chambers otl the cylinder at the side of the arm, the heads orflanges ot the cartridges being in the rear or outside of theextractor-plate, and as the hammer is cocked in the operation ot' ringthe dog upon the lower end of the hammer engages with the ratchetteeth fupon the rear ot' the extractor-plate b, and rotates it, and itsrotating motion is coinmunicated to the cylinder by the prismaticprojection on the front of the extractor-plate fitting into thecorresponding hole e in the rear end of the cylinder. After thecartridges are all red the latch a, which secures the barrel to theframe, is disengaged from the top a of the recoil-plate, and the barreland the cylinder secured thereto are moved forward by drawing the arm Epartially out of the sleeve F, until it is stopped by the shoulder o. Asthe cylinder is thus being drawn forward, the extractor Z1, in generalterms, remains sta tionary, and the shells are all drawn from thechambers of the cylinder. I rind it preferable, however, to permit theextractor b to have a slight longitudinal movement, and as the shellsare drawn the extractor is drawn slightly forward out of its bearing inthe recoil-plate, according to the Width of the annular groove h. Bythis slight longitudinal movement of the extractor the shells are causedto free themselves from the extractor more quickly, and drop out of theWay, than it' the extractor were positively permanent in itslongitudinal position.

It will be seen that as thus constructed the cylinder always moves withthe barrel, being made fast thereto, and the extractor is operatedentirely7 from the rear, which permits greater simplicity and accuracyin the construction of the barrel and cylinder.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. In combination with a lock-frame,asingle barrel, and a revolving cylinder of cham -V DANIEL B. WESSON.

Witnesses:

T. A. CURTIS, -`M. B. HALL.

